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FULL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The purpose of the M.A.-Ph.D. program in the History of Religions is to provide training in the comparative study of religion and in the study of specific religious traditions. The program includes courses designed to introduce the student to the general field of phenomenological and comparative religious studies, as well as advanced courses in which the student will pursue specialized work in the practices, ritual, philosophies and history of individual religious traditions (primarily African Religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam). The program is interdisciplinary in nature and draws upon related courses in other departments and programs of the University, for example, Anthropology, History, Asian Studies, Afro-American and African Studies. Master's candidates are expected to concentrate on a single religious tradition. Doctoral students will concentrate on a specific religious tradition and also develop competence in a second religious tradition. 
Overview of graduate programs in the "History of Religions"

The “History of Religions” program is administered by a committee consisting s of the following eight faculty members: Tim Gianotti (Islam), Abdulaziz Sachedina (Islam), Kurtis Schaeffer (Tibetan Buddhist Studies, History of Religions Method and Theory), Paul Groner (Sino-Japanese Buddhist Studies), Karen Lang (Indian/Theravada Buddhist Studies), David Germano (Tibetan Buddhist Studies), John Nemec, (Hinduism), Ben Ray (African Religions) and Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton (African Religions).

I. Admission and Residency Requirements
In order to apply to any graduate program, it is necessary to have a B.A. or its equivalent prior to the projected admission date. Students entering the program with only a Bachelor's degree will be admitted to the M.A. or M.A./Ph.D. program and will be admitted subsequently (after two years) to the Ph.D. only upon the recommendation of the History of Religions field Committee. The M.A. may be taken as a terminal degree (M.A.-only) or as part of the Ph.D. (M.A./Ph.D.) course. Students should specify for which they are applying, but M.A./Ph.D. applicants may also be accepted into the M.A.-only program at the discretion of the Committee. The presumption is that M.A.-only students will not continue on into the doctoral program, and, if they choose to apply after two years, they will be considered on par with external applicants at that time.

Students who already hold a Master's degree in Religious Studies or in a suitable area studies program and who have completed a suitable amount of language preparation may be admitted directly into the Ph.D. program upon approval of the Committee of Graduate Studies. They may also petition for one year of “advanced standing” for work done in a Masters program elsewhere. Nine hours of UVA Continuing Education courses taken prior to admission - if they are graduate courses in the relevant area - can be counted towards a Masters or Ph.D degree requirements. If more than nine hours have been taken, then the student must present a petition to the Committee of Graduate Studies to count such courses toward either M.A. or Ph.D. degree requirements.


II. Requirements for the M.A. (two options)
 An M.A. requires successful completion of twenty-four hours of course work (not including non-topical research) in the department along with a thesis (which counts as six hours of course) for a total of the equivalent of thirty hours of coursework.  Alternatively, the student may forego the thesis and complete thirty hours of course work in the classroom, followed by an M.A. examination. The first option involves the preparation and successful defense of a thesis that exhibits competence in the area of specialization, skill in a given method of study, and an ability to employ resources in the relevant foreign language(s); the latter involves satisfactory performance in a comprehensive examination based upon a reading list approved by the relevant field committee. In either case, fifteen of the credits must be non-language seminars. Of these fifteen, nine credits must be in seminars dealing with the same religious tradition and three credits should be a methodology course listed on the HR approved list of methodology courses (see “Methodology Requirements”). In this context, Buddhism in all forms are considered together as a single religious tradition, as are African Religions, Hinduism, and Islam.

This description supersedes the general departmental description of the M.A. program.

III Course Loads
SUBJECT: Non-Topical Research Courses

Each department has been assigned numbers for four non-topical research courses listed below:

  • 897 NON-TOPICAL RESEARCH Preparation for Master's Research, no thesis director
  • 898 NON-TOPICAL RESEARCH For Master's thesis, taken under the supervision of a thesis director
  • 997 NON-TOPICAL RESEARCH Preparation for Doctoral Research, no dissertation director
  •  999 NON-TOPICAL RESEARCH For Doctoral Dissertation, taken under the supervision of a dissertation director

The registration system requires that there be a faculty member associated with each course and an instructor number entered on ISIS, the “Integrated Student Information System (found at: www.virginia.edu/registrar). Student’s can find Instructor numbers by consulting the IIQ Screen on ISIS.

For courses numbered 897 and 997, a faculty member will have to be assigned for each student. For 898 and 999, the student's research advisor would be the appropriate faculty member.

Entering students must enroll for a 12 semester-hour course load and with no more than three hours of non-topical research. Part-time entering students must register for six semester hours with no more than three hours of non-topical research.

All students that are enrolling in less than 12 credit hours must add the appropriate non-topical research hours to keep their enrollment at a full-time level (12 semester hours), unless they are going to be a part-time student (6 semester hours).

Students working on a master's degree will enroll in either 897 (if they have not selected a thesis advisor) or 898 (if they have selected a thesis advisor), and students working on a Ph.D. degree will enroll in either 997 (if they have not selected a dissertation advisor) or 999 (if they have selected a dissertation advisor).

If you have any questions about this, please call the Enrolled Student Office (924-6741 or 924-7183)


IV. Language Requirements

M.A. Candidates:

Candidates for the M.A. must demonstrate by examination a reading knowledge of any modern language other than English that is useful for the student's proposed M.A. work, or they may complete two courses (6-8 semester hours, or the equivalent) in a language related to their area of specialization (e.g., Sanskrit, Hindi, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Swahili).


Ph.D. Candidates: According to departmental requirements, doctoral candidates must acquire proficiency in the languages necessary for advanced research in their area of specialization, as follows:

Hinduism: four years of either Sanskrit or Hindi and at least two years of a second South Asian language relevant to the student's research interests;

Indian/Theravada Buddhism: normally four years of Sanskrit or three years of Pali and two years of a second language relevant to the student's research interests;

Indian-Tibetan Buddhism or Chinese-Tibetan Buddhism: four years of Tibetan and three years of either Sanskrit or Chinese;

East Asian Buddhism: normally Chinese and Japanese, four years of one and three years of the other;

African Religions: three years of Swahili or another African vernacular language;

Indian Religions: four years in a classical Indic language and at least two years of a second Indic language relevant to the student's research interests.

In addition, Ph.D. students must also pass competency exams in two modern research literary languages relevant to their field of research. This requirement can be fulfilled by the comprehensive exams in one's primary and secondary languages if the languages qualify as "modern research literary languages". A modern research literary language is defined as a language with a contemporary body of academic research literature relevant to the student's program, such as French, German, modern Japanese, modern Chinese, modern Tibetan, Portuguese (for African Religions), Swahili, or Arabic. It does not include such classical languages as classical Japanese, classical Chinese, classical Tibetan, Sanskrit and so forth, or languages without relevance to the student's program.


V. Ph.D. Comprehensive Examinations
Upon completion of the aforementioned requirements, and with the permission of the field committee, candidates will take four comprehensive examinations in the following areas: (a) the student’s area of specialization, (b) methods of study and major themes in religious studies, (c) an area of secondary concentration, and (d) relevant language examinations, or completion of language requirements. If a student receives an A in the final course he or she completes in a classical language, the student generally will not be required to pass an examination. However, the student’s committee may require a textual translation examination. In addition, everyone must pass the examinations in two modern research languages before the second year of their Ph.D. studies - this is not considered to be a comprehensive exam and should not be postponed.

VI. Fieldwork
At least nine months of fieldwork and/or study abroad in a country relevant to the candidate's dissertation research is required, and a longer period is encouraged.

VII. Dissertation
Within six months after completing the comprehensive examinations, the candidate will present a dissertation proposal to his/her advisory committee. Completion of the dissertation and the Final Examination will proceed according to the rules of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

List of Requirements for students in History of Religion program tracks

The following details the Ph.D. requirements for each of the seven program tracks in the History of Religions section of the Department.

 

(1-4) Buddhist Studies
(including East Asian Buddhism, Indian or Theravada Buddhism, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, and East Asian-Tibetan Buddhism)

 

Primary religion (Buddhism): 6 seminars. Students are urged to choose courses that focus on Buddhism’s development in a number of different cultures. For the possibility of additional courses in Buddhism, see the section on electives below. Courses must be approved by ones adviser.

Secondary religion: 3 seminars.

Methodology:  2 seminars. These must be selected from the list of approved courses, or a petition must be filed through the student's adviser to include a course that does not appear on the aforementioned list.

Electives:  2 seminars.  These courses could be from another department or from course offerings in the Religious Studies Department outside of the areas covered in the primary tradition’s geographical area. For example, a student in East Asian Buddhism could not count another course in East Asian Buddhism, but could count one in Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese history, etc., as an elective. Language courses are permissible under special circumstances if the language is not a required language and a paper is written. Courses must be approved by one's adviser.

Language requirements: Religious Studies requires competence in two modern languages that are relevant to a student's research. In addition, classical languages vital to the student's interests are required, as outlined above. In most cases, the student will be expected to work in two classical languages and attain competency equivalent to completing four years of instruction in one and three in the other. Students must commence studying language as soon as possible and should discuss their choice of languages with their advisers. Advanced language courses may also be used to fulfill other requirements if a research paper is written.

As mentioned, above, students must demonstrate competence either through examination or coursework in two modern research literary languages relevant to student's field of research.  This requirement can be fulfilled by the comprehensive exams in one's primary and secondary languages if the languages qualify as "modern research literary languages". The French and German departments offer courses to enable graduate students rapidly to gain a reading knowledge of these languages; they also administer examinations to test competency.

Courses in other departments: Every Ph.D. candidate must have a faculty member from outside the department on his or her dissertation committee. To facilitate this process, students should take at least one course outside of the department. This course may be counted towards other requirements.

Doctoral comprehensive exams:  Four are required, one each in (1) the primary religion of study, (2) a secondary religion, (3) methodology, and (4) relevant classical language(s). As mentioned, above, an "A" in the final semester of classical language study serves as the comprehensive examination in that language; otherwise the relevant professor will set the examination.

(5) Hinduism

Primary religion (Hinduism): 6 seminars. Two courses can be taken outside the department, but such courses must be approved by ones adviser.

Secondary religion: 3 seminars.

Methodology: 2 seminars. These must be selected from the list of approved courses, or a petition must be filed through the student's adviser to include a course that does not appear on the aforementioned list.

Electives: 2 seminars. These are required courses, but their specific nature is variable. However, these courses should be selected from among those offered in other departments, or from course offerings in the Religious Studies Department from outside of the History of Religions. Language courses cannot be counted as electives, and all of these courses must be approved by the student’s Ph.D. adviser.

Primary language (Sanskrit or Hindi): 8 courses.

Secondary language (Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil, Nepali, or other modern Indic languages taken in summer and/or external programs): 4-6 courses.

Two modern research languages: It is necessary to pass competency exams in two modern research literary languages relevant to the student's field of research. This requirement can be fulfilled by passing comprehensive exams in one's primary and secondary languages if the languages qualify as "modern research languages". A modern research literary language is defined as a language with a contemporary body of academic research literature relevant to the student's program of study, such as French, German, modern Japanese, modern Chinese, modern Tibetan, Portuguese (for African Religions), Swahili, Arabic, and so forth. It does not include such classical languages as classical Japanese, classical Chinese, classical Tibetan, Sanskrit and so forth, or languages without relevance to the student's program of study.

Total: 25-27 courses.

Doctoral comprehensive exams: Five are required, one each in (1) the primary religion of study, (2) a secondary religion, (3) methodology, (4) the student’s primary research language, and (5) the student’s secondary research language. As mentioned, above, an "A" in the final semester of classical language study serves as the comprehensive examination in that language; otherwise the relevant professor will set the examination.

(6) African Religions

Primary religion  (African Religions): 6 seminars. Specific courses must be approved by the student’s Ph.D. adviser.

Secondary religion: 3 seminars.

Methodology: 2 seminars. These must be selected from the list of approved courses, or a petition must be filed through the student's adviser to include a course that does not appear on the aforementioned list.

Electives:: 2 seminars. These are required courses, but their specific nature is variable. However, these courses should be selected from among those offered in other departments, or from course offerings in the Religious Studies Department from outside of the History of Religions. Language courses cannot be counted as electives, and all of these courses must be approved by the student’s Ph.D. adviser.

 

Primary language: Six courses are required in Swahili or another African language such as Hausa, Amharic, Wolof, Shona or Arabic. If the appropriate African language is not offered at UVA, then it is the student's responsibility to identify summer language institutes that offer intensive courses in the desired language–whether in the United States or abroad. FLAS fellowships are available for summer study in certain African languages, and students are, again, expected to pursue such possibilities. In some cases, it is likely that a student may not be able to arrange for formal instruction in the African vernacular he/she will use in fieldwork. In such an instance, it is advisable to choose a relevant lingua franca, such as Swahili (East Africa) or Arabic (North Africa) or Hausa (West Africa), since such widely spoken African languages can be formally studied up to an intermediate or advanced level in the United States.

Secondary language, when applicable: If it is advisable, students may need to take two courses or the equivalent in a second African language. If the student plans to do fieldwork in an African vernacular rarely taught in the U.S., such as Kikuyu, Guro, Nupe or Maa, it is the student's responsibility to develop basic familiarity with the language on his/her own. This can be achieved through a variety of means, such as obtaining tapes and manuals for self study; locating a native speaker and arranging tutorials; or traveling to Africa over the summers for intensive language study in the region selected for later dissertation research.

Two modern research languages: It is necessary to pass competency exams in two modern research literary languages relevant to student's field of research. This requirement can be fulfilled by the comprehensive exams in one's primary and secondary languages if the languages qualify as "modern research languages". A modern research literary language is defined as a language with a contemporary body of academic research literature relevant to the student's program of study, such as French, German, modern Japanese, modern Chinese, modern Tibetan, Portuguese (for African Religions), Swahili, Arabic, and so forth. It does not include such classical languages as classical Japanese, classical Chinese, classical Tibetan, Sanskrit and so forth, or languages without relevance to the student's program of study.

Doctoral comprehensive exams: Four are required, one each in (1) the primary religion of study, (2) a secondary religion, (3) methodology, (4) the student’s primary research language.

(7) Indian Religions

Indian religions: The student is required to complete nine seminars, up to three of which can be taken outside the department with the adviser's approval. No more than five seminars can be taken in a single religious tradition.

Methodology: 2 seminars. These must be selected from the list of approved courses, or a petition must be filed through the student's adviser to include a course that does not appear on the aforementioned list.

Electives: 2 seminars. These are required courses, but their specific nature is variable. However, these courses should be selected from among those offered in other departments, or from course offerings in the Religious Studies Department from outside of the History of Religions. Language courses cannot be counted as electives, and all of these courses must be approved by the student’s Ph.D. adviser.

Primary language: The student must complete eight courses in a classical Indic language, such as Sanskrit or Pali.

Secondary language: The student must complete four to six courses in a second Indic language.

Two modern research languages: It is necessary to pass competency exams in two modern research literary languages relevant to student's field of research. This requirement can be fulfilled by the comprehensive exams in one's primary and secondary languages if the languages qualify as "modern research languages". A modern research literary language is defined as a language with a contemporary body of academic research literature relevant to the student's program of study, such as French, German, modern Japanese, modern Chinese, modern Tibetan, Portugese (for African Religions), Swahili, Arabic, and so forth. It does not include such classical languages as classical Japanese, classical Chinese, classical Tibetan, Sanskrit and so forth, or languages without relevance to the student's program of study.

Total: 25-27 courses.

Doctoral comprehensive exams: Four are required, one each in (1) the primary religion of study, (2) methodology, (3) the student’s primary research language, (4) the student’s secondary research language.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES FACULTY
In the area of History of Religions

David Germano, Associate Professor (germano@virginia.edu): Tibetan Studies, Buddhist Studies, Tantric Studies, Tibetan language and literature, and Comparative Philosophy.
Timothy Gianotti, Assistant Professor (tjg5g@virginia.edu), Islam.
Paul Groner, Professor (psg3w@virginia.edu): Japanese and Chinese Buddhism.
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton, Assistant Professor (chh3a@virginia.edu): African Religions.
Clarke Hudson, Assistant Professor (wch4b@virginia.edu), Chinese Religions.Karen Lang, Professor (kcl@virginia.edu): Buddhist Studies, South Asian Religions, Sanskrit. Pali and Prakrit languages and literature.
John Nemec, Assistant Professor (jwn3y@virginia.edu): Sanskrit language and literature, Hinduism and Indian Religions, Tantric Studies.
Benjamin Ray, Professor (bcr@virginia.edu): History of Religions, African Religions.
Abdulaziz A. Sachedina, Professor (aas@virginia.edu): Islamic and Shi'ite Studies; Persian Studies.
Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Associate Professor (ks6bb@virginia.edu): Tibetan Studies, Tibetan History, Buddhist Studies, Tibetan language and literature.
Jalane Schmidt, Assistant Professor (jds7b@virginia.edu), Latin American &
Caribbean Religions.
ASSOCIATED UVA FACULTY

Richard B. Barnett, Associate Professor (rbb@virginia.edu): History of early modern South Asia, contemporary Pakistan.
Griffith Chaussee, Instructor (gc4n@virginia.edu): Hindi and Urdu language and literature.
Ellen Contini-Morava, Associate Professor (elc9j@virginia.edu): Linguistic Anthropology; Swahili.
Ronald Dimberg, Associate Professor (rgd@virginia.edu): Premodern Chinese history.
John Echiverri-Gent, Associate Professor (jee8p): South Asian politics.
Daniel Ehnbom, Associate Professor (dje6r@virginia.edu): South Asian Art history, manuscript illustration.
Yunsheng Huang, Associate Professor (yh6d@virginia.edu): Buddhist Architecture.
Robert A. Hueckstedt, Professor (rah2k@virginia.edu): Sanskrit and Hindi language and literature.
Ravindra S. Khare, Professor (rsk3m@virginia.edu): Anthropology; India, social anthropology, symbolism, food studies, popular culture.
Anne E. Kinney, Associate Professor (aeb2n@virginia.edu): Chinese language and literature.
Michelle Kisliuk, Assistant Professor (mk6k@virginia.edu): Performance studies; West and Central African music and dance
John Mason, Associate Professor (jem3a@virginia.edu): History
Susan McKinnon, Professor (sm@virginia.edu): Anthropology; Cultural Anthropology, gender studies.
Farzaneh Milani, Associate Professor (fmm2z@virginia.edu): Persian language and literature, Islamic women, cross-cultural studies of women).
Joseph Miller, Professor (jcm7a@virginia.edu): History, African History.
Neeti Nair, Assistant Professor (nn2v@virginia.edu): Modern Indian History.
Mohammad Sawaie, Professor (ms@virginia.edu): Arabic.
H. L. Seneviratne, Associate Professor (hls@virginia.edu): Sri Lanka, social theory, Theravada Buddhism, nationalism.
John Sheperd, Associate Professor (jrs4c@virginia.edu): Anthropology of China and Taiwan.
Nicolas Sihle, Assistant Professor (ns6n@virginia.edu): Anthropology of Nepal and Tibet.
Edith Turner, Lecturer (elt9w@virginia.edu): Anthropology, Ritual Studies.
Dorothy Wong, Assistant Professor (dcw7a@virginia.edu): Buddhist Art, Chinese Art.

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